President of the Tennis Association of T&T, Hayden Mitchell, is confident this year's "Summer of Tennis" tournament will benefit local players, who will get the chance to play professionally, at home.
The second edition of the "Summer of Tennis" will be held at the National Racquet Centre in Tacarigua and will serve off on July 12 with the first tournament, SR4 Under-12 Development Team Championships. It will climax with the ITF U-18 MT 100 Carnival Cup from August 14-31.
Speaking at the launch of the nearly two-month-long tennis event yesterday, Mitchell said T&T players will square against their global counterparts.
"One of the things we are excited about is to bring exposure to our young athletes and make sure that somebody who is born in T&T should be able to become a professional without leaving the shores of T&T," he said.
Mitchell, who is also a Director on the Board of the Sport Company of T&T, also added that staging the series of tournaments is to help promote this country as the centre for the region.
"We hosted it last year and part of our vision is to have T&T become the hub for regional tennis. We want to be able to host international tournaments at all levels. We also want to be able to have development happening in the country as well."
The Davis Cup Group IV tournament will follow the SR4 12 competition from July 20-27. The top men's players were selected from trials last month. Aalijah Leslie, Tim Pasea, Kale Dalla Costa, Kamran McIntosh-Ross and Shamsi will fly the red, white and black. The local men against will be aiming to finish in the top two and be promoted to Group Three.
T&T will host the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time from August 3-10. The event is considered the ladies' equivalent to the Davis Cup for men.
Tennis official Jermile Danclar said the local tennis community is honoured to host the premier Ladies Team competition.
"This is the first year that we bid and won the bid to host the event. So we are very proud of about that. Ten teams are scheduled to participate in the event this year- Antigua Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Costa Rica, El Salvador Jamaica, St Lucia and hosts T&T."
The local ladies for the Billy Jean King Cup tourney are Yolande Leacock, Aalisha Alexis, Jordane Dookie, and Charlotte Ready.
Director of Physical Education and Sport at the Ministry of Sport and Community Development Gabre Mctair said the ministry is backing the Summer of Tennis initiative.
"This Summer of Tennis, the ministry most definitely endorses. I think that this augurs extremely well for the development of tennis in T&T," said Mctair.
He added, "We look forward to having these types of tournaments to provide the International Tennis Federation with the necessary impetus to grant the certification of this facility as a regional Development Centre. The Summer of Tennis programme does speak to a number of the objectives and themes of the Ministry of Sport and Community Development's National Sport policy 2017 to 2027."
Schedule for the Summer of Tennis
Venue-National Racquet Centre, Tacarigua
July 12-19
SR4 Under 12 Development Team Championships
July 20-27
David Cup Group IV
August 3-10
Billy Jean King Cup
August 10-15
COTECC-U-12, U-14 Summer Bowle
August 17-24
ITF Under 18 MT100 Summer Bowl
August 24-31
ITF U-18, M 100 Carnival Cup